Dame Louise Martin, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), has stepped down from her role on the board of the Birmingham 2022 Games.
The move comes after political figures had called for more diversity on the Birmingham 2022 executive team. Almost all of the Games’ board of directors and executive management team are white.
Martin will be replaced by Sandra Osborne, the president of the Barbados Olympic Committee.
“The CGF is proud that our organisation reflects the diversity of the Commonwealth Sport Movement and that we have a person of Sandra’s calibre to actively contribute on the Birmingham 2022 Board,” CGF said in a statement reported by the BBC.
“The CGF supports the renewed commitment of the Birmingham 2022 organising committee to ensure that its governance and management fully reflects the diversity of the city and region. Dame Louise will continue to play an active role in the supporting preparations for the staging of Birmingham 2022.”
The Brooklyn Nets NBA team is set to name John Abbamondi (pictured left) as its new president, according to reports.
The New York Post has also reported that Keia Clarke will become the first chief executive of Women’s NBA team New York Liberty. Both the Liberty and the Nets are owned by Joe Tsai.
Abbamondi formerly served as executive vice-president of ticketing, suites and hospitality at Madison Square Garden Company, where he oversaw the New York Knicks NBA team and the New York Rangers NHL franchise.
Abbamondi’s appointment at the Nets comes after David Levy last year stepped down as chief executive of the team and Barclays Center, less than two months into the role.
Clarke, meanwhile has spent 10 years with the Liberty, which will begin playing home games at Barclays Center next year. The Post reports that the chief executive role has been created specifically for her.
Andrew Recinos (pictured right) is to replace Jack Rubin as chief executive of Tessitura Network from the start of January 2021.
Recinos will retain the title of president he has held since 2017, and assume Rubin’s role at the supplier, whose CRM system powers ticketing and other services at cultural attractions. Read more here.
Philips Professional Display Solutions has named Andrea Greguoldo as its new sales manager for the Italian market.
Greguoldo joins Philips PDS from Samsung Electronics, where he spent two years in senior sales management positions, including LED project sales manager and, more recently, key account manager and LED specialist.
Greguoldo will be responsible for driving sales and awareness of Philips PDS’ expanding range of LED solutions to the Italian marketplace.
Washington’s NFL team has named Terry Bateman as its executive vice-president and chief marketing officer, effective immediately.
Bateman will play a key role in the team’s name change and branding process along with owner Dan Snyder. The team recently announced that it would be dropping its ‘Redskins’ moniker and will be known simply as ‘Washington Football Team’ until a new name is announced.
Bateman has over 40 years of experience in the sports, entertainment and media industries and will head the team’s marketing initiatives. He has been a chief executive at three separate companies, including Barton Cotton, Dick Clark Productions and NTN Buzztime.
Washington also named Julie Donaldson as its senior vice-president of media. Donaldson will oversee the entire broadcast operation and joins from NBC Sports Washington.
The NBA basketball league has appointed George Aivazoglou as its head of fan engagement and direct-to-consumer for Europe and the Middle East (EME).
Aivazoglou will be based in the NBA’s London office and report to NBA EME managing director Ralph Rivera. In the newly-created role, Aivazoglou will unify all fan touchpoints across the region, including grassroots events, localised marketing, content and communications, with a focus on direct-to-consumer relations.
Aivazoglou has 15 years of experience in the entertainment and telecommunications industries. He previously served as vice-president of marketing and analytics for Eurosport, and prior to that was chief marketing officer at ezbob, a leading UK-based fintech startup. He has also worked at Sky and T-Mobile International.
Live Nation’s senior vice-president of international and emerging markets Jason Miller has announced his departure.
The industry veteran had held the role at the live events giant since 2016, after previously serving as senior vice-president of the company’s operations in Asia. Miller previously operated a concert consultancy and spent more than a decade as an agent at CAA.
Check out our sister site TheTicketingBusiness.com for more details.
Rugby Australia has added Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates and former international Gary Ella to its Rugby World Cup 2027 bid advisory board.
Australia is the front-runner to land hosting rights for the national team tournament after it emerged earlier this year that Argentina would be dropping its bid.
Coates was recently elected as vice-president of the International Olympic Committee for the second time.
